Surviving Day by Day (Book 3): Still They Come (20 page)

Beth laughed but quickly covered her mouth, then quietly chuckled, she did not want to wake up everyone, “Hell Colt, I would even bet that Alden knows where Hoffa is, who shot Kennedy, and probably even knows what happened to D.B Cooper. So ya, Alden knows.”

Colt laughed, he stood up and brushed his jeans off. Holding out his hand, “Ma’am, if you are ready to go back in the house, we can check on Niz and wake Alden.”

Beth took his hand as he pulled her to her feet, but he continued pulling her into a hug. He leaned down whispering in her ear, “Maybe once we wake Alden, we can prove how much we love each other?” He leaned back grinning, Beth gently pushed him back, “Colt, we have had a long night, so let’s go check on Niz and we will see how fast we get back to bed, then we can discuss more about your idea.”

She turned to go back in the house followed by Colt, “Well, talking wasn’t really what I had in mind.” Before Beth could reply, Colt disappeared to wake Alden.

As Colt reached for Alden’s door knob, he heard him speak softly, “You wake my dog, you won’t have the energy to continue your night.”

With that, the door opened and Alden stepped out quietly, holding his boots in his hand. Colt looked at him surprised as Alden shut the door and walked past him. Alden opened Tabitha’s door and walked in. Leaning over, he watched as she slept soundly. Turning to Colt he grinned, “She has the face of angel, doesn’t she?” Colt snickered knowing of what Tabitha’s response would be to that remark. Alden reached up over the bed and pulled an eagle feather out of a dream catcher that hung above the bed. Slowly he tickled Tabitha’s nose. She blew at it a couple of times as Colt stood back trying not to laugh. On the fourth brush she swatted at it, “Fucking fly, leave me alone.”

Alden whispered in her ear, “Psst, hey cupcake three. It’s time to rise and shine.”

Hearing Alden’s soft low voice, Tabitha opened one eye and smiled, “Oh hi, Al. Is it that time?” Alden smiled, “Yes honey.” Standing straight, Alden looked at Colt, “c’mon you don’t need no panty show like I got earlier.”

As they walked out and Alden shut the door, Colt looked at him, “Err, what did you mean earlier, about me not having energy later?”

They were walking into the living room, Alden looked at Beth, “Good morning, fair damsel.” Beth gave Alden a puzzled look. Alden stopped to pick up his coffee cup from the table then looked at the two of them, “You would all be surprised at how well sound travels out here in the desert, in the dead of night.”

Colt and Beth looked at each other and blushed as Alden walked to the kitchen talking over his shoulder, “And yes, I do know who shot Kennedy and where Hoffa is, but if I told you, I’d have to kill you. As far as D.B. Cooper.... well, I’ll let you stew on that one.” Alden walked back in with his coffee and took his seat as the two just stared at him.

The next morning everyone was yawning and stretching, no one was used to the split watches anymore. Ceara poured some cereal in a bowl, “You guys are all on your own, we ain’t cooking this morning.”

She pulled the powdered milk out of the refrigerator and Alden smiled, “Good to hear you won’t be tied up in here today, those cows out there need milked.” He nodded to the powdered milk, “I’ve had about all of this that I’m going to take.”

Ceara made a face, “But I was going to help do the traps today.”

Alden shook his head, “No you aren’t; there are chores around here that still need to be done.”

Ceara poured her milk, “Fine!” Her tone let them all know she wasn’t happy.

Charlie slipped in beside her, “Honey, don’t start off the day pissy... haven’t we had enough of that?”

Ceara smiled, “Yeah, we have... I’m sorry.” She turned to Alden, “Is there anything else I can do, so the others can focus on the traps?”

Alden smiled, “Much better, cupcake. You can help Beth with anything she needs.” Alden glanced at Beth then back to Ceara, “Distract her, so I can get back to normal.”

Beth looked over to Alden when he made his little snarky comment and giggled, “You can get distracted all you want Mr. Man, but when it comes to your health, along with everyone else’s around here, I will have you laid up and you damn well know it.”

Making her way over to the coffee pot to pour her a cup, Beth looked outside to see the sun rising. “No need to worry Alden, by the looks of everything, you’re going to be just fine and some fresh air, I think, will be the best for everyone.”

Tabitha smelled the coffee brewing as she made her way into the kitchen. Sitting down at the table she looked over to Alden, “So Alden, if we get started on that fence and we get a good portion of it done; what do you think we should do next? I mean, I get the fact that we have a lot of things to do around here, but do you think we need to make another run into town later for supplies?” Questions were just coming out of her as quick as they were coming into her head and Alden stopped her right there.

“Cupcake, we have a lot done already and to answer your other question, I think right now, we just need to hunker down and maintain what we got here, before that horde comes walking through.”

Tabitha got up to get a cup of coffee then returned to her seat, “I was just thinking ahead boss, and you're right on tightening down the hatches.”

Charlie looked over and saw Niz walk into the kitchen. “How are you doing this morning, Niz?”

As she made her way to her seat, Niz smiled, “I feel great this morning; as for my arm, it is still a little stiff, but not like it was.”

Beth walked over, placed her cup on the table and gently moved Niz’s arm. Wincing just a little, Niz replied, “It’s ok, honestly.”

Beth positioned Niz’s arm back in its sling, “Oh I believe you, Niz, and it doesn’t feel as tight as it did. I have some Tylenol that you can have after you eat, which will help out a great deal today.”

Niz smiled, “Alden, do you think the Chief will be back anytime soon?”

Alden rose and walked to the kitchen sink. Taking a sip of his coffee, he looked out the window; “As a matter a fact, yes. I expect to at least hear something from the tribe, it’s been long enough.” Alden set his cup down and grabbed his cane and headed out the back door.

The sun was rising over the Indian camp. Running Buffalo and Stray Eagle were sitting on blankets in front of a small fire, as the search bands were getting ready. Drawing a map of the area on the ground, he used inverted V’s as the mountains and lines to denote creek beds and streams. He put circles around three sets of mountains and X’s over some of the lines then called the others over.

“Today is the last day of the search. We know we have pockets of dead here, here, and here.” Placing rocks in the areas he had pointed to. We need to know what’s on the other side of the reservoir.” He looked at four young braves, “I want you to go north and work your way around the reservoir working your way south and back west. We’ll meet you at Byler’s Ranch.”

The men nodded, mounted their horses and rode off. Tommy, the youngest of the four, looked at his cousin Drew, “You think we’ll find more?”

Drew shook his head, “I don’t know, the damn things seem to be breeding like rabbits.”

John Bluebird, the oldest, looked to the others, “They breed faster than rabbits, rabbits take a few weeks; these things take only hours. We kill five and ten more come out of nowhere.”

The fourth man, Joshua Lonetree spoke up, “The elders and the medicine man say they are trying to find out why. I don’t think they will. This is just time repeating itself. Once more there is some sort of white man bullshit weapon that backfired on them and we will also pay the price. I wish it would have only affected them. I’ve lost my brothers and my baby sister to this crap.”

John looked at him, “Brother, we’ve all lost family, even some of the whites, who had nothing to do with this. This sickness is indiscriminate, it don’t care if you're black, red, brown, white, or rainbow. It’s going to get you, if you let it. The trick is not to let it.”

As the four rode, they pointed out the small herds of dead ones. Tommy had a small rope with knots in it, each knot represented ten. By the second hour, he had passed the thirtieth knot. Looking to John, “We got three hundred already, that’s more than we got all day of yesterday.”

John simply shook his head, “Keep counting little brother… keep counting.”

Running Buffalo and Stray Eagle gathered the others. Stray Eagle gave the orders, “We are going to break camp and head south along this last mountain ridge. Robert will do the counting today.” He tossed the knotted rope to a tall thin Indian with slightly grey hair.

Robert smiled as he leaped up on his horse, “Good, I’ve been out here for three days scouting; I want to get back to my wife and my own bed.”

One of the other older Indians smiled as he mounted up, “Yeah this riding the range shit is for the young ones and those who want to relive the old days. Personally I’m with Robert, a warm house, a warm meal, and warm woman next to me sounds great.”

Robert rode up next to him, “Damn it, Dan, I don’t need the vision of you and my sister lying under the same blanket.”

Running Buffalo laughed as he got on his horse. He turned to look at Robert and Stray Eagle, “That must be one big blanket.” He quickly turned his horse, “Let’s Go!”

The group headed out south as Dan looked at them, “Hey we may both be a little chubby, but damn, can we generate some heat on a cold night.”

It was Drew who spotted the herd that suddenly popped out. Pointing to them out, he saw another group come up out of another section of the creek bed. John cussed, “Shit, damn.”

Joshua pulled his pistol but John held up his hand, “No, don’t shoot, we can’t see down in that bed, so we don’t know how many more are down there, or nearby.”

Tommy spoke up, “The last herd was sixty-five and that was just a couple of miles back.”

John made a quick decision, “Let’s pick it up and ride around them quickly; Tommy, do a head count, but don’t bother with the rope, you can figure it out when we're clear.”

The men kicked their horse into a run and soon were out of danger. As they slowed, John looked across the reservoir and pointed, “That’s Larry’s place over there in the distance. We got about another hour or so and we’ll be there. Let’s get this done.”

Running Buffalo and the others had been riding for about three hours when they came across a small herd directly in front of them. They watched as the herd had somehow surrounded a small herd of deer. Stray Eagle looked at the rest, “Let’s see how this plays out. The deer are cornered, but they have speed and agility on their side. I want to see how strong these creatures are.”

Robert looked at him, “What do you mean by that? They’re dead.”

Running Buffalo’s jaw was set tight, “Stray Eagle is right. We’ve had to fight these things but we have never watched them fight. We know some have been pretty strong but some of these have been dead for a while. I want to know if they lose their strength.”

As they sat and watched from a distance their questions were soon answered. The deer would skitter back and forth dodging the grabbing hands of the dead people as they looked for an escape valve. One dead woman lunged for a deer and had grabbed a front leg. The deer jumped and kicked her off quickly. As she fell, she gave the deer the opening it needed,

along with the rest of the herd. In a flash, they were all bolting out the break in the circle. Only the last one out was hit hard enough to knock it off balance; but not enough to take it down. It tripped and stumbled, but regained its footing in time to leap over the closing horde, knocking over two wanderers as it broke free.

Stray Eagle looked at the rest, “Well that tells the story. They have slowed and have little strength.”

Robert looked at him, “Really? I mean that women had hold of a deer by its leg. How long do you think you could hold on?”

Stray Eagle smiled, “If I had hold of a leg, I could hold it a lot longer than that. She had it good, and it simply broke free with no fight at all. Hell, even Dan could have held it for ten to twenty seconds at least.”

Running Buffalo smiled. “Okay show’s over, let’s move on, I want to be at the ranch before sunset.”

***************************************************************

Alden was sitting at the table as Tonto jumped up and looked off to the desert. Alden stood and grabbed his binoculars and started searching the horizon. He finally caught what Tonto was interested in. There were four Indians on horseback moving slowly towards the ranch. “It’s okay boy, they’re friends.” Turning to the house he called out, “Beth, Ceara, make a pitcher of tea and a pot of coffee. We got riders coming in.”

Charlie, Tabitha and Colt had reached the far end of the fence setting more of the stakes and wire to trap the wanderers. Crixus and Mickey were running around playing with each other and chasing some of the local jackrabbits. Charlie was holding a stake while Tabitha held the razor sharp wire. It was Colt’s turn to swing the hammer. After five good whacks, the stake was down and Charlie was using heavy wire to attach the razor wire. As they moved to the next section, Tabitha turned to look at the pups. Mickey was bouncing back and forth over Crixus who was standing straight almost like a pointer. Turning to the boys, “What the hell is that all about?”

Colt turned to look, “Charlie, check out Crixus.”

Charlie put the stake down against the fence and turned around. Looking at the way Crixus was standing looked familiar. Cocking an eyebrow it hit him, “That’s Tonto’s stance.”

Tabitha giggled, “Damn if it ain’t.”

Colt looked at him then to Charlie, “Tonto’s stance how?”

Charlie didn’t move. H
e
started to look off to where the Crixus was looking, “When Tonto catches wind or sight of something he freezes and ... well he points. That’s what I think Crixus is doing.”

Suddenly he spotted a small group of horses. Charlie pointed to the south, “There; right there, see the horses?”

Tabitha grabbed the binoculars and zoomed in on the four riders, “it’s Niz’s people coming back. We should go tell Alden.”

Colt smiled and pointed at Crixus, “Tabitha, if he sees them, you can bet your ass Tonto has already seen, smelled, and let Alden know we have company.”

**************************************************************

Ceara dumped the grounds in the trash and looked with a mischievous grin at Beth, “Guess staying behind wasn’t such a bad thing, we get to know what’s going on before the others.”

Beth worked on the tea, grinning just a bit, “Ceara, we may not be allowed to sit in on that talk.”

Ceara went to the kitchen window, “Well, if we are going to be cooped up in here then we should have a little fresh air.” She opened the window just about halfway.

Beth laughed, “I know what you are doing, and if I know, Alden knows. That window goes to the patio, you don’t want fresh air, you want fresh information.”

Ceara laughed and went to finish the coffee, “Just in case Alden didn’t notice, don’t say anything, ok?”

Beth headed to the back door to take out the tea, “Ok, but I doubt I will have to say a word.”

As soon as the coffee was brewing, Ceara joined Beth, Alden, and Niz on the patio. The riders were almost there, Ceara saw the smile on Niz’s face when Running Buffalo and Stray Eagle were visible. Ceara stood beside her, “I’m glad your dad is ok...”

Niz looked confused to Ceara, “Oh... yeah... thanks, me too.”

Ceara looked to Beth to see if she understood Niz’s reaction but she looked just as confused. Ceara turned back to Niz, “Were you not worried about your dad?”

Niz smiled, “Of course I was, but I know my father and I know the chief... both live in the same body and neither would put themselves in a place to get hurt.”

Ceara understood that, but it didn’t explain the look of relief Niz had when they came into view, until the riders were actually at the house. Niz only had eyes for Stray Eagle, but Stray Eagle was a typical man, he was all business and never looked twice at Niz.

As the men joined them on the patio, Alden looked to the girls, “You know the drill, I want to know what is going on, then I will let you guys know where we stand. Till then, scoot. Oh and Ceara, you want to close that window when you go in?”

Ceara rolled her eyes, “Fine, but I had to at least try, right?”

Alden chuckled, “Never know unless you try, now git.”

The women all went back in the house and the men sat down to talk. As soon as they were in the kitchen, Ceara turned to Niz, “What’s up with you and Stray Eagle?”

Niz got a surprised look, “What do you mean?”

Ceara giggled, “Well, umm you kind of just stared at him when he rode up.”

Niz began to blush, “No, I didn’t. He is a fellow warrior and I was happy he got back safe.”

Ceara poured them all tea, “If you say so.”

Beth moved to the window to close it, “Why don’t we all go out on the front porch, I think being cooped up in the house is starting to get to me. We can just have a little girl talk.”

Once all three had sat down, Tiger fought to get into Ceara’s lap. “Ok, Ok, come on.” She scooped the puppy up, setting it in her lap. “You know we really need to start these guys’ training soon.”

Beth took a sip of tea, “Crixus seems to be training himself. Now, Niz back to you.”

Niz glanced to Beth, “Beth, my shoulder is great, you are a wonderful doctor, but you have to trust me...”

Beth held up her hand, “Not that honey, Ceara made a very good observation and I want to know a little more. How long have you loved him?”

Niz fumbled over her words, “Love? I don’t.. I mean... It’s just that he made it back ok, nothing more.”

Ceara laughed, choking on her tea, “Well, if we weren’t sure before, we are now!”

Niz blushed, lowering her head, “Do you think he noticed?” She quickly looked up, “Oh SHIT, dad didn’t notice, did he?”

Ceara shook her head, “One thing I have learned lately; when it comes to men, work or survival will always come before love.”

Beth nodded, “But, to be honest, that is a good thing. They have kept us all alive. Well, ‘we’ have kept each other alive; but the men staying focused is a good thing.”

Beth looked to Niz, “Neither of them noticed, but sweetie, why are you worried about it? Is there a reason that you shouldn’t want to be with Stray Eagle?”

“The Chief has said that we must focus on survival, not repopulating the earth. He has said all that will do is give the biters more things to attack. He said we would be distracted with the little ones and not on the whole picture. I know he is right, so I have to just leave things be.”

Ceara leaned back in her chair, “Damn, that man sounds like Alden. I think a little love means we are seeing life again, not just surviving. I don’t think that is such a bad thing. I do think they are right about having kids though. I don’t want to bring a baby into this!”

Niz turned to Ceara, “If you have love, if you make love... the chance is there.” She cocked an eyebrow, “Or is there a pallet of condoms on that trailer somewhere?”

Beth and Ceara both started laughing, Ceara was blushing too. “Me and Charlie... well, we haven’t... you know...”

It was Niz’s turn to look shocked, “You sleep in the same bed?!”

Ceara was blushing to the point her ears were turning red, “This isn’t about me and Charlie... This is about you and Stray Eagle!”